Career press, your MBA game plan proven strategies for getting into the top business schools 2003 ISBN1564146839

Weexamined the advice available on the market and realized that while there were somegood books that target the business school application process, many of the applicantswho were readin

Your MBA Game Plan

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By Omari Bouknight & Scott Shrum

The Career Press, Inc

Franklin Lakes, NJ

Copyright  2003 by Omari Bouknight and Scott Shrum

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bouknight, Omari,

1977-Your MBA game plan : proven strategies for getting into the top business schools / by

Omari Bouknight and Scott Shrum.

p cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 1-56414-683-9 (pbk.)

1 Master of business administration degree—United States 2 Business

education—United States—Planning I Title: MBA game plan II Shrum, Scott, 1975- III.

Title.

HF1131.B68 2003

650'.071'1—dc21

2003051510

Scott—Dedicated to the memory of James Bartlett, the most brilliant, principled, and

steadfast friend anyone could ever hope to have.

Omari—For my parents, who showed me truth in God, power in education, and the

burden of legacy.

Acknowledgments

It’s safe to say that we hardly knew what we were getting into when we first decided

to write a book about getting into business school Fortunately, the people below madethe whole process much more bearable, and the final product a lot more valuable Weare truly thankful for their assistance along the way

John Abbamondi; Kirsten Beucler; Alex Brown; Justin Crandall; Jon Crawford;Nicole DeFelice; Brian Dukes; Buckethead Section, Kellogg Class of 2004; StaceyFarkas; Brigid Ganley; Kavita Gunda; Shaan Kandawalla; Michael Lewis; Mark Lueking;Carolina Menezes; Campbell Murray; Matt Niksch; Tom Pusic; Sarah Richardson; Sec-tion A, HBS Class of 2004; Brian Schmidt; Brendan Sheehan; Misha Simmonds; DougStein; Anita Thekdi; Chad Troutwine; and Mike Worosz

Also, this book probably wouldn’t have happened if not for the supportive nity of fellow b-school applicants on the BusinessWeek online forums We’d like tothank everyone out there for putting up with our surveys and giving us great feedback

commu-as this book took shape

Finally, a few people have been particularly helpful, patient, and supportive in thisprocess Scott would like to especially thank his wife, Anita, and his parents Omariwould like to especially thank his entire family and Kavita for their continual support.These people believed in us and stuck with us the whole way through

Chapter 2: The Four Dimensions of a Perfect Applicant 19

Chapter 4: Understanding the Application Components 47 Chapter 5: Developing Strategies for the Top Programs 125

Ë 5 K

What are your stats? This is the most harmful phrase in the English language, as far

as any business school applicant is concerned In this case, “stats” refers to an applicant’sbasic quantifiable characteristics, such as “700 GMAT, 3.5 GPA at a top-25 undergrad,four years W/E in P/E.” W/E in P/E???

Something is terribly wrong That stream of numbers and letters tells us nothingabout who the applicant really is What does she like to do for fun? What kind ofleadership roles has she taken on? Where does she want to be 10 years from now?

We have no idea Yet we’ve gotten to the point where many business school cants immediately ask each other this question whenever they meet It’s a senselesssecret handshake

appli-Make no mistake, the numbers do matter You need to demonstrate a minimumlevel of intellectual ability in order to get into any business school But even though theStanfords and Whartons of the world boast GMAT averages in the low 700s, don’t foolyourself into thinking that a 770 GMAT score means that you’re definitely in Evenmore importantly, don’t think that a sub-700 score means that you’re definitely out.The same goes for your undergraduate GPA And your work experience And any-thing else that you can slap a number on

Unfortunately, the majority of applicants fall into this trap They focus on one ortwo statistics and let the rest of their applications suffer Even worse, they focus on thewrong things, and assume that ultra-high GMAT scores or impressive jobs (such as

“four years W/E in P/E,” which means that an applicant has four years of work ence in private equity) will carry them into business school Or they think that a 620GMAT score equals certain rejection from any “top 10” school, which couldn’t be fur-ther from the truth

experi-We spoke with hundreds of fellow applicants while working on our own businessschool applications Many of them were amazingly bright and were great at what theydid, but sometimes they didn’t seem to “get it.” They would say things such as, “I took

the GMAT three times, and I went from a 670 to a 690 to a 700 I’m thinking of ing in another GMAT prep class and taking the test a fourth time What do you think?Don’t worry; I’ll get around to the essays eventually.” To the admissions committee,applicants with great GMAT scores but so-so essays and recommendations are a dime

enroll-a dozen, enroll-and “dime enroll-a dozen” won’t get you into enroll-a top business school

After seeing too many qualified business school candidates get rejected because ofcritical strategic mistakes in their applications, we decided to see if we could help Weexamined the advice available on the market and realized that while there were somegood books that target the business school application process, many of the applicantswho were reading them were still asking the wrong questions So we took a step backand tried to get to the root of the problem We realized that many applicants are oftop-business-school caliber, but don’t understand what admissions committees are re-ally looking for in an application

We decided to build a new application framework We took a close look at eachpart of the application process and asked, “What are admissions committees reallylooking for here, and how can applicants make sure that they’re delivering it?” Theresult is a strategic approach to the business school application process By applyingthis approach through your MBA game plan, you can greatly improve your chances ofreceiving admittance into the top programs

We haven’t made a living from providing college candidates with application vice, but we have managed to get into the top MBA programs during a very competi-tive year by using strategic analysis and targeted approaches We’ve been in your shoes,and hope to share with you what we’ve learned over the course of the application pro-cess We also hope we can save you from some of the most common mistakes thatapplicants make If you can make it easy for admissions officers to see that you have adistinctive profile and would fit well with their schools’ cultures, then you’ll quickly getahead of other candidates And getting ahead of other candidates is probably what youwere shooting for when you picked up this book in the first place

ad-Best of luck to you!

—Scott and Omari

1 New Game, New Rules

Ë 7 K

To my relief, the cab slowed down and the driver waved me over I had been on theverge of running for the last 30 minutes, trying to reach my interview with Harvard BusinessSchool (HBS) on time Sliding into the back seat of the taxi, I heavily exhaled directions tothe admissions office, rejuvenated with confidence knowing that I would not arrive to theinterview late Now all I had to do was differentiate myself from the other 10,000 applicantsand prove to the admissions committee that I embody HBS’s culture and mission Sud-denly, it hit me This would be no small task

In many ways, the on-campus interview is a wake-up call For many applicants, it isthe first time that they interact directly with the competition and with their target schools.Stepping into the admissions office, my alarm went off as I began to discuss experiences,backgrounds, and objectives with other applicants who were waiting to interview The con-versations were enlightening, as gossip and advice on the application process were freelyswapped More so, however, these conversations were humbling I spoke with a militarypilot who had escorted the President around the country, a scientist in biotechnology whowas working on a cancer-fighting antibody, and a dot-com entrepreneur who had executed

a multi-million dollar initial public offering What did I have to offer?

I no longer believed my family’s frequent promises that I would be admitted Theyobviously didn’t understand what I was up against

“Your interviewer is ready to see you now,” the receptionist called out to me Momentslater, I was sitting across from an admissions officer A 30-minute conversation ensued inwhich we discussed all aspects of my application, except for my GMAT score and GPA.Indeed, the interview was very similar to the several others in which I took part Becausemost applicants to top business schools have the ability to succeed in the curricula, GPAand test scores are often ruled out as differentiating factors So what remained to separate

me from the thousands of other applicants?

The admissions officer asked questions about my story What were my career goals andhow would attending business school play a role in meeting those goals? How would my

professional and personal experiences enhance the classroom dynamic? In what ways had

I acted as a leader to my peers?

Fortunately, I was ready My responses were well crafted and were supported with tails that augmented the assertions These responses were all part of a strategic approachthat I developed to target the schools to which I applied The interview transformed into aplatform on which I established my case The admissions officer became my audience,measuring my storyline against other applicants’ stories and against the school’s sense of

de-“fit.”

By the end of the interview, I felt satisfied I had covered each of my points and made aconvincing case for why I belonged at HBS Exiting the interview, I didn’t concern myselfwith finding a taxi I wanted to savor my victory Thanks to my preparation, I was one stepcloser to being admitted

The Increasing Popularity of Business School

Business is a natural extension of all professions Whether the occupation we sue is in fashion, banking, technology, or healthcare, business permeates the fabric ofthe workplace Perhaps this was never more evident than during the Internet craze ofthe late 1990s, when having an innovative business plan in the Silicon Valley became ascliché as having a ground-breaking movie script in Hollywood While the subsequenteconomic downturn sent the majority of business plans to the trash, our entrepreneur-ial spirit and industrial mentality has remained undiminished Indeed, the number ofapplications that were sent to top business schools during the 2002–2003 season reached

pur-an approximate 100,000 applications, pur-an increase of more thpur-an 30 percent over thenumber of applications submitted a few years prior

Over the last several years, the rules to the business school application game have

changed drastically As a result of the increase in applications, the competition among

applicants has intensified The average GMAT score and undergraduate GPA of mitted students to top business schools have risen to almost 690 and 3.45, respectively.The level of competition has heightened to the point that the acceptance rates forsome schools have fallen to near single-digits This has pushed schools to closely exam-ine all aspects of the application beyond the basic statistics

ad-Many applicants, however, are responding to this increased competition by merelyfocusing on improving their GMAT scores Any popular periodical’s business schoolrankings prominently feature a school’s average GMAT score next to its name, so it isonly natural that applicants focus on this obvious component of the application Butwhile the GMAT may be the first challenge in the application process that must benavigated, high scores alone certainly won’t win the business school application game

MBA Application Strategy

Traditional strategic analysis examines the approach of a decision-maker given hisenvironment and the tactics of other decision-makers who are in pursuit of similar objec-tives As an applicant, you must succeed in an environment that demands differentiation

against the competition and proper fit with the programs to which you apply The mate questions that you as an applicant must answer are:

ulti-Ë How do I measure against the competition?

Ë How do I measure against my targeted business schools?

In our admittedly subjective estimation, the probability of gaining acceptance totop business school programs looks something like the following:

The rest of this book focuses on developing answers to those two questions andgetting you to the upper right-hand cell It will do so in a functional and comprehensivemanner, highlighting all aspects of the application process You will learn how to posi-tion yourself based on your experiences and your target schools, how to write effectiveessays, and how to execute your application strategy

Understanding the competition

When Omari first started the business school application process, one of the firstpieces of insight he was given dealt with the number of candidates applying with hisprofessional profile: If you want to gain admittance to a top program, you must first find away to differentiate yourself from the thousands of other consultants who are applying.This is good advice for any applicant, regardless of the profile Therefore, it is helpful

to get into the minds of admissions officers and of other business school candidateswith the knowledge that these candidates will have applications that cross the officers’desks before and after your own application In general, there are two aspects of yourapplication that admissions officers will compare with other candidates’ applications:Your profile and your career goals

Your profile

The first aspect of differentiation that you must understand as a business schoolcandidate is that all applicants have an Achilles’ heel We all have a weakness in ourprofile that will be reflected in our application unless it is appropriately addressed.Whether the issue is number of years of work experience, lack of community serviceactivities, low GPA, poor writing ability, low GMAT, unconvincing interview skills, oroverconfidence, all candidates have an aspect of their profiles that, unaddressed, couldlead to the dreaded “ding,” as rejections are commonly called

DifferentiateFrom Competition

Don’t DifferentiateFrom Competition

Your profile consists of your academic background, professional experiences, andpersonal interests and activities As much as possible, the components in your profileshould be multifaceted and consistent with an overall theme.

Multifaceted

Admissions officers are looking for candidates who demonstrate multiple sions through various interests A common question that is asked during business schoolinterviews is: “Outside of your professional activities, what are your personal interestsand endeavors?” Top business schools want to ensure that they do not merely admitworkaholic drones, but rather candidates who lead interesting and inspiring lives

dimen-Consistent

Not too long ago, we spoke with Carrie, an applicant who was declined admittance

to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University During her back session with an admissions officer, one of the messages that Carrie received wasthat she lacked community service experience Actually, Carrie did have communityservice experience, but it was not consistent with the overall message that she conveyed

feed-in her application The community service activities feed-in which Carrie took part appeared

to be events in which she participated purely so that they could be posted on her sume Admission committee members are savvy enough to detect when an applicant’sattempts to enhance her profile are contrived, so you therefore need to weave thecomponents of your profile into your story in a logical and consistent manner

re-The second and third chapters will assist you in differentiating your applicationstory from the competition Chapter 2 will outline the characteristics that are valued byadmissions officers and show you how to demonstrate these characteristics in your ownapplication In highlighting those characteristics, you will ensure that your profile ismultifaceted and consistent with a targeted story This approach impresses top busi-ness schools, as they are searching for candidates who will add something unique to theclassroom dynamic Chapter 2 will also show you how to overcome certain weaknessesthat your application may contain Specific profiles will be covered in Chapter 3, detail-ing their typical strengths and weaknesses, and providing guidance on how to over-come the stereotypes and tendencies that are associated with them

Your career goals

Where you are going is just as important as where you are coming from sions officers often cite candidates’ inability to articulate their post-graduation goals—and how the business school’s curriculum will support those goals—as a contributingfactor in a candidate’s rejection

Admis-As you communicate your career goals, you should convey an overall story thatmakes it easy for the admissions committee to see why an MBA makes sense for you.Typically, the career goal aspect of your story will either describe your motivation tomake a career change or your intent to bolster your current career direction Which-ever career path you intend to pursue, the messages you communicate in the applica-tion should reflect innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit That doesn’t mean that all

applicants should strive to start their own businesses, but rather that business schoolsare looking for candidates who want to contribute a fresh perspective and new insight

to their chosen professions

Use the application as a forum in which to display ambition and ingenuity as youdiscuss future objectives Additionally, you should discuss the ways in which the tar-geted school’s specific curriculum would aid you in achieving those objectives

Chapter 4 will provide you with details on each component of the application cess Your story should be reflected in each of these components

pro-Understanding Y

Understanding Your Business School T our Business School T our Business School Targets argets

Most business schools look for similar qualities in their applicants They look forstudents who demonstrate academic aptitude, leadership, an ability to work well withpeers and subordinates, integrity, and ambition, just to name a few

So does this mean that the applications to your target schools should be the same?

Of course not Each school tends to emphasize certain traits over others and looks forexamples to support these traits A quick look at the essay questions from a few busi-ness school applications tells you that each school asks about these qualities in differ-ent ways Here’s the irony: Each school claims to look for a unique type of candidate,yet it seems that every year there are some applicants who manage to get into all of thetop programs Do these candidates really have every trait that all of these schools arelooking for?

Probably not More likely, they understand the emphasis that each school places

on specific traits, and they know how to highlight those traits in their application cessful applicants know that MIT Sloan values analytical ability, and they thereforestress their methodical approach to business problems They know that Fuqua reallydoes pride itself on its teamwork-oriented culture, and they highlight the success they’vehad while working in teams

Suc-These are obvious examples, but this is an area where many applicants stumble.They either don’t give enough thought to highlighting the traits that each school looksfor, or they “tack on” one trite example in a half-hearted attempt to meet the require-ment The result is almost always a rejection because the applicants failed to demon-strate proper fit with their target schools

What is “fit”?

In short, “fitting” with a school means demonstrating that you have the ability to ceed there, you are someone the school would be glad to have as part of its community, andyou will serve as an ambassador for the school after you graduate

suc-In order to convey proper fit with a school, you should demonstrate that:

Ë You understand what the school stands for and why it is important Whenyou say, “Darden preaches leadership,” you are able to give examples ofwhat leadership means to you and explain why you want to furtherstrengthen your own leadership abilities in business school

Ë You embody the traits that the school most wants to see in its students.You don’t need to have climbed Mount Everest to have demonstratedaccomplishment or aced the GMAT to demonstrate quantitative excel-lence You do need to be able to illustrate how your everyday life is pep-pered with examples of the traits for which the school looks.

Ë You will become very involved in your business school, from contributing

to class discussions to running student organizations to being an activealum 20 years from now One great way to communicate this is by point-ing to similar experiences with your undergraduate school

Ë You are the kind of person whom your classmates would want to workwith on a team project at 3 a.m Exhibiting a penchant for working inteams and a sociable personality will establish the basis for this

One other extremely important question that an admissions officer asks about ery applicant is, “Would he actually attend this school if he were accepted?” Admis-sions officers know that you’re applying to multiple schools, and they know that theirschool may not be your first choice But you need to convey enough knowledge andenthusiasm about the school to convince admissions officers that you would stronglyconsider attending their school if you were accepted The history of business schoolapplications is littered with stories of people with stellar credentials who were rejected

ev-by “safety” schools If you don’t sound sincere about wanting to attend a given school,you can expect that school to return the favor by not wanting you

Demonstrating “fit” in your application

Your entire application should spell out how well you fit with your target school.Practically speaking, though, the parts of the application that will do this the most areyour essays, recommendations, and interview Think of these as your opportunities totalk about how your background and future direction correspond with what the schoolhas to offer, and to discuss them in a way that lets your personality come through Yes,you will answer specific questions for each school, but admissions officers inevitablywant to know what’s most important to you and why

In essays, admissions officers most want to hear about actions that you have taken

to solve a real problem or reach an actual goal, not what you would do in a hypotheticalsituation They also want to hear what you learned from your experiences Be as spe-cific as possible in describing what you have accomplished and what you have learned

in the process

The same goes for recommendations Everyone finds someone to write a positiverecommendation for them, but a truly great recommendation will support your posi-tioning by providing specific examples of how you demonstrated leadership, succeeded

as part of a team, etc We can’t emphasize this enough: Be as specific as possible!Before you put together your applications, you should know exactly what you wantthem to communicate Chapter 6 will help you build your game plan, which will bringout the messages that you want to convey to each of your target schools

Selecting your schools

As important as it is to establish proper fit in your applications, you must first selectthe schools to which you will apply The game is reversed, as you must decide whichschools fit you rather than having the schools decide that you fit them

Selecting schools should be an introspective process You should be warned, ever that people who don’t even know your name will have an opinion on where youshould apply Also remember that school rankings are just one piece of information toconsider Certainly rankings can be helpful tools in getting familiar with the schools’perceived strengths and weaknesses Still, it’s important that you do your own research.After all, no magazine or newspaper knows what really matters most to you

how-Do not be enticed by prestige alone While it certainly may be a factor in makingyour selections, there are plenty of other criteria that should be considered Some ofthe selection criteria that you may want to use in evaluating schools include:

Ë Curriculum emphases

Ë Typical career paths of graduates

Ë Teaching style

Ë Student culture

Ë Compensation upon graduation

Ë Financial aid opportunities

Ë International perspective and access

Ë Visit business school Websites

Ë Review curriculum information

Ë Speak with current students and alumni

Ë Speak with faculty

Ë Attend business school forums

Ë Visit the schools

We will discuss some of these resources and criteria in more detail later We will alsoassist you in your evaluation of programs Chapter 5 takes a look at the business schoolselection process and provides an overview of 30 top business schools, with perspectives

on how to gain admittance to them Finally, we’ve compiled a list of frequently askedquestions (FAQs), which you will find at the end of most chapters These are questionsthat we’ve heard a number of applicants ask The FAQs have been placed in differentchapters depending on their topics

The B-school Decision

The decision to apply to business school is likely to be one of the most importantdecisions you’ll make in your career For full-time students, the investment is likely to be

in excess of $100,000 before you even take opportunity costs (the salary you would haveearned during those two years) into consideration And with more than 70 percent ofMBAs taking out loans to pay for at least a portion of their education, it’s clear that youshouldn’t just wake up one morning and decide that you want to go to business school.Interestingly, that seems to be exactly the way some business school applicants ar-rived at their decision Others (read: investment bankers and consultants) scheduled

“apply to business school” in their Outlook calendars four years ago as if it’s just other item to check off Regardless of how you arrived at this decision, you shouldreally spend some time thinking about what you want to get out of the business schoolexperience

an-The bottom line is that you absolutely have to be passionate about attending ness school before making the decision to apply Sure, the thought of going $100,000into debt is intimidating, but there are plenty of ways in which you can balance the costs

busi-of b-school, including a large salary at the end busi-of the rainbow Perhaps the more ing factor is the admissions process itself Indeed, you must be passionate about b-school, because the application process will deter anyone who isn’t dedicated to getting

daunt-in Certainly this book will help you with every step in that process, but unfortunately

we can’t do much to instill the dedication that it takes to get in That part is up to you.Thankfully, business school programs come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors,

so you should be able to select a program that fits your needs Here are some of youroptions:

Ë Full-time: As the title would suggest, full-time programs are the most volved option U.S b-school programs are generally two years in dura-tion, although there are some one-year programs, and require students toleave their professional positions Students like this option, because it givesthem full exposure to the b-school experience Certainly the opportunitycosts are higher than the other options, but the experience is richer, be-cause of the amount of time spent with classmates, faculty, and speakers.Generally, full-time is seen as a good option for people who are consider-ing some type of career transition, be it a new industry, function, or posi-tion One of the benefits of full-time programs that allows this transition

in-to occur is the summer internship There is heated debate over whetherthere is actually any financial benefit to attending a full-time program.Although there is no clear answer, our personal experiences have shownthat in addition to making a career transition, there are great intangiblebenefits to being surrounded by intelligent, motivated people for two years.Our focus, in terms of providing application strategy advice, will be onfull-time programs The application processes for part-time and distancelearning programs, however, are very similar You can still benefit from theadvice in this book should you decide not to apply to a full-time program

Ë Part-time: If you are satisfied with your current career path and can’tfathom the thought of breaking away from the workforce for one or twoyears, a part-time program might be what you’re looking for Part-timestudents generally follow the same curriculum as their full-time counter-parts, but take all of their classes during the evenings and on weekends.Most part-time students take three to five years to finish their degrees.Many part-timers report that the class load combined with their normalwork load can be intense at times, but they are happy not to have to take

on the extra debt load

Ë Distance-learning: These programs are quickly rising in popularity aspeople become more comfortable with taking classes online Typically,students will download course material and assignments from the b-school Website and have access, via the Internet, to faculty On week-ends, students will then meet in the classroom to discuss that week’smaterial Distance-learning programs are normally two or three years inlength and feature curricula similar to that of full-time programs Thebenefits are that you can continue your career in a location that isn’t withinclose proximity of the program in which you’re enrolled B-schools arescrambling to see how they can capitalize on this trend and often refer tothem as “eMBA” programs Be aware that a large tradeoff you make inchoosing a distance-learning program is that you will miss out on the op-portunity to be surrounded by exceptional peers from all walks of life Ifyou are comfortable with this tradeoff and are mostly interested in thehard skills that an MBA can deliver (especially if you want to move ahead

in your current job, rather than find a new job), then a distance-learningoption may be right for you

Ë Executive MBA: Executive MBA (EMBA) programs are similar to learning programs in that they appeal to professionals who are further along

distance-in their careers than typical full-time applicants Also like ing programs, EMBA programs allow students to remain employed full-time The main difference between the two program types is that EMBAstudents don’t access course content online Rather, students take all oftheir courses in the classroom on weekends The majority of students inEMBA programs are sponsored by their companies EMBA programsgenerally follow similar curricula as full-time programs and can take any-where from two to five years to complete

distance-learn-Ë Executive programs: For those who are further along in their careers andhave specific aspects of business they would like to learn more about, ex-ecutive education programs might be the way to go Executive educationprograms generally run for one or two weeks and provide established ex-ecutives with the opportunity to improve their competency in one of avariety of business topics from mergers and acquisitions to leading change

in an organization to supply chain management Their short length allowsexecutives to rapidly get educated in an area without infringing upon their

work schedule These programs are also a nice way to get up to speed on

a business topic without enduring lectures on topics with which you arealready familiar Executive programs are, however, notoriously expensive.You can expect one these programs to set you or your company back any-where from $2,000 to $20,000 Additionally, you won’t receive any type ofdegree for your participation At best, you can hope to receive some type

of certification Still, you will enjoy a fairly simple application process.Most applications request information on your professional background(no GMAT, no essays, no interview, no recommendations, etc.) and can

be accessed directly from business schools’ Websites Overall, executiveeducation programs are much more interested in your ability to pay thanyour qualifications So if you’re reading this book in order to develop astrategy to get into an executive education program, you can stop rightnow

Ë Ph.D.: If you are enamored with thought of teaching business concepts,then you should consider going the Ph.D route Business schools are al-ways looking for fresh talent, knowing that faculty strength is a major dif-ferentiating factor in the eyes of applicants Ph.D programs generally takefour to five years to complete and in many cases require you to take someMBA coursework before specializing Although you will be in school muchlonger than with a full-time MBA program, you will receive considerablymore financial assistance You should know, however, that Ph.D programscan be extremely difficult to gain admittance to, even more so than theirMBA counterparts Many Ph.D programs at top schools only take a hand-ful of students per specialty each year Additionally, landing your dreamfaculty position can be much more challenging than landing your dreambusiness job because faculty spots at top schools are always limited

In addition to these basic options, you should also consider whether you want toapply for a dual degree program or a specialty program Dual degree programs provideyou with the ability to earn an MBA degree and another advanced degree in less timethan it would take to complete both degrees separately Unfortunately, there’s no two-for-one deal on the price of pursuing a dual degree Some of the most popular degrees

to combine with an MBA include:

prestige of getting additional letters after your name In fact, some companies might beslow to consider you during recruiting, because of the fear that they’d have to compen-sate you more for both degrees Also, know that a dual degree may actually provide youwith less flexibility If, for instance, you get a dual degree in business and medicine, thenfirms outside of healthcare will immediately ask why you’re interested in them, givenyour background With that said, if you have a firm understanding of how the additionaldegree fits in with your career goals, are willing to pay the extra tuition, and don’t mindspending the additional time, then a dual degree is probably worth pursuing.

Apart from dual degree programs, several schools offer specialization programswithin their core business school curricula These programs generally require you totake a few required MBA courses before following the specialization component ofthe curriculum Examples of specialization programs include:

dedica-be more difficult to gain acceptance to than their general management counterparts.Nonetheless, participants in these programs who have a clear career direction consis-tently speak highly about their experiences

So there you have it; a whole world of opportunity from which you can select It is

of course a big decision to make But once you make the decision to apply, we’ll bethere the rest of the way

FAQs

How specific should I be in discussing my career goals?

Simply espousing generalities with regard to your career goals will not win you thegold While you don’t have to state that you want to be CEO of a specific companywithin five years, it is important that you convey a career direction in your application.Establishing a direction shows that you know what you want to get out of businessschool and aren’t simply trying to boost your salary As a general rule, you should be asspecific as you feel comfortable discussing In other words, don’t discuss a career path

in your application that you can’t speak intelligently about Overall, your career goalsshould make sense in the context of your application story and should be compelling,answering the question of why you want an MBA to pursue that career path Youshould also be able to discuss how your career goals will have an impact on an industry,individuals, or society in general

What if I’m not sure what my career goals are?

Use the application preparation process to gain a better understanding of yourtalents and ambitions Talk to your friends and family about what they see you doingand match that with your background Refine your ideas as you study business schoolcurricula until you have your application story Odds are that by the end of the businessschool application process you will have a much clearer picture of what your careergoals are After you get admitted to the school of your dreams, you can change youraspirations as many times as you please, but you don’t want the admissions committee

to view you as an aimless vagabond This is particularly true if you come from a lessbusiness-oriented background, in which case having a concrete story for why an MBAmakes sense for you is even more critical than for a typical applicant

2 The Four Dimensions of a

Perfect Applicant

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Becoming the perfect business school candidate is as much an exercise in standing and cultivating your relative strengths as it is in identifying and addressingyour relative weaknesses We all have strengths The main challenge is to reveal yourstrengths in your applications and convince admissions officers that those strengthsaren’t outweighed by your weaknesses

under-For every Superman there is a kryptonite under-For every applicant there is a weakness.That’s okay! This is the first reality that must be understood as you develop your posi-tion and become the “perfect applicant.” Remember, a 780 on the GMAT does notblind admissions officers to generic career goals any more than a great stereo systemmakes up for a car that looks like a rust bucket To avoid this type of imbalance, youmust express all four dimensions that every business school is in search of

Leadership

Probably more than anything else, business schools want to beknown as institutions that produce leaders in their fields Admissionscommittees are therefore in search of applicants who display leader-ship ability in all facets of their lives This doesn’t mean that you need

to have started three new nonprofit organizations or replanted a forest Candidates

who successfully demonstrate leadership in their applications exhibit how they haveprovided others with direction, shown initiative, and managed difficult situations intheir professional, personal, and academic careers.

It is not enough to merely state that you are a leader, but rather you must provideexamples of demonstrated leadership Ultimately, the admissions committee shouldidentify you as a high potential leader because of supporting details rather than overtstatements A good rule of thumb is “Show, don’t tell.”

Innovation

Innovation is a combination of traditional intellectual ability andcreativity Naturally, the former is reflected in the first line statistics(GMAT and GPA), but admissions committee members are also insearch of the latter Applicants who are visionaries are generallysuccessful in establishing the trait of innovation Innovation in this case can be assimple as finding a new solution to an everyday business problem Candidates shouldstrive to deliver application stories that speak to adding something new to their se-lected career paths, rather than merely becoming middle managers in mindless busi-ness conglomerates

Teamwork

The success that Kellogg has had with integrating teamworkthroughout its curriculum has spread over time to the other top busi-ness schools Kellogg’s success with a team-oriented curriculum hasbeen supported by the way in which most companies now operate.Because companies utilize teams for virtually all of their functions, business schools are

in search of applicants with strong team skills A team-oriented attitude is now a baselineexpectation of every applicant This includes basic social skills and a willingness to sharesuccesses and take accountability for failures While top business schools are certainlyknown for being competitive environments, operating in teams has become an integralpart of conducting business, and as such is a key aspect of the business school experience

Maturity

Work experience has become a vital part of candidates’ applications

On average, admitted applicants to the top business schools have most five years of full-time work experience Although there are someapplicants who are admitted directly from undergraduate programs,this remains the exception and not the rule More important than the length of one’swork experience, however, is the quality and depth of that experience

al-Top business schools are in search of candidates who present multilayered ences inside and outside of the workplace An important aspect of the business schoolexperience is that students teach one another based on their backgrounds It is oftensaid that everyone at business school, including faculty, are both teachers and students.Admissions committees therefore try to identify “mature” candidates who display pro-fessional maturity and integrity throughout their application

Teamwork

Leadership

Maturity

Innovation

As an applicant, your goal should be to weave each of these dimensions throughoutall of the application components In general, application components consist of: datasheets, essays, recommendations, resume, transcript, and interview In Chapter 4, wewill step through each of these components in detail and show ways in which successfulapplicants have expressed the four dimensions.

In order to help you gauge how well your profile supports these dimensions, youshould take an inventory of your activities and achievements This will allow you toidentify your strengths and weaknesses and address them accordingly

Activities and achievements that typically support the four dimensions include:

Community Service

Over time, community service has slowly transitioned from a “nice-to-have” to a

“must-have” on the application During feedback sessions with rejected applicants,admissions committee members have been known to bring it up as a reason for theirdecision It should be stressed, however, that this is a quality (not quantity) activity.You shouldn’t merely write down every humanitarian act that you’ve ever performed.Nor should you try to join half a dozen community service organizations to desperatelydemonstrate that you have a heart Rather, it is important to show that you have aspi-rations of helping society as a whole and not just your personal bank account Yourgoal should be to demonstrate deep impact through a few activities, not broad impactacross several Community service is a great way to express all of the four dimensions,but it can especially be powerful in communicating maturity and leadership abilities

GMAT Score

While your GMAT score alone will never get you into a business school, it certainlycan keep you out As a general rule, if your score falls below a school’s middle 80 per-cent range of scores, you will have to fight an uphill battle in order to be considered acontender On the flip side, a GMAT score close to a school’s mean indicates that youhave the intellectual horsepower to excel in the business school classroom Naturally,achieving a strong score on the GMAT gives you points in the innovation department

To avoid having to overcome a low score, you should review our section on the GMAT

in Chapter 4

Hobbies and Extracurricular Activities

Any hobby that can support one of the dimensions or give the admissions tee insight into your personality is worth mentioning At the end of the day, businessschools are looking to admit people, not numbers, and discussing hobbies is a great way

commit-to differentiate yourself from the competition These activities can also display yourstrengths in areas such as teamwork and innovation As such, it isn’t really importantwhat the hobby is, but rather what the hobby says about you as an applicant Do youlike fly fishing? Great Now tell the admissions committee why

International and Cultural Exposure

As the trend of globalization continues and the world gets smaller, business schoolsare in search of applicants who will have world impact Use the application process as aplatform to reveal your foreign language skills, multi-national experiences, and cul-tural awareness Examples of this can be as grandiose as leading a business unit through

a global merger across three continents, or as simple as working with a group of viduals with diverse professional and educational backgrounds In general, including in-ternational or cultural experiences displays a willingness to explore beyond your comfortzone In effect, it will help you to support the maturity and teamwork dimensions

indi-Professional Experience

For most applicants, professional experience will be the primary driver of the plication It will permeate the essays, recommendations, interviews, and resume Be-cause it has such wide-ranging usage, it should be utilized to support all four dimensions

ap-Undergraduate and Graduate Transcripts

Although your undergraduate and graduate transcripts can’t be altered, you canemphasize different aspects of them to support your position Perhaps you took myriadcourses outside of your major during undergrad You could use that multi-disciplineapproach to support your desire to attend a business school that focuses on general man-agement Naturally, a high Grade Point Average (GPA) helps to support the innovationdimension and indicates your ability to succeed in a rigorous academic environment

Analyzing Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Odds are, you have some notable strengths that will make you a solid student andworthy contributor in business school, but you also have some weaknesses that mightkeep you out of your ideal school if they go unaddressed That puts you in a pool thatincludes probably 99 percent of all business school applicants This section will showyou how to systematically identify and capitalize on your strengths while rooting outand neutralizing your weaknesses

The grid

Surprisingly, many applicants don’t spend any time analyzing or even just writingdown their strengths and weaknesses This might seem like a trivial task—especiallybecause you know yourself better than anyone—but remember that your goal is to sellyourself to someone whose only contact with you is through your application and possibly

a 30-minute interview Therefore, you need to organize your thoughts and make surethat you know exactly what traits you will emphasize for the admissions committee

It helps to start by drawing out the four dimensions and activity/achievement egories in a grid, like the one on the following page

cat-Next, list your activities and achievements, according to the categories, that bringout one or more of the dimensions This process shouldn’t happen in one 10-minutesession Rather, it will likely take a few minutes here and there as other activities andachievements come to mind The process might stretch over days or even weeks Somethings to think about when you are looking into your past are:

Ë What extracurricular activities did you participate in while in college? Whatdid you volunteer for? What positions were you elected to?

Ë How have you gotten involved in your community since graduating fromcollege? What have you enjoyed about these experiences? What have youlearned that you didn’t learn in school or on the job?

Ë What do you like to do in your spare time? What do you enjoy about each

of these things? How have they helped you gain a new perspective or ercise your creative side?

ex-Ë Where have you traveled? What languages do you know? What have youlearned from your friends of different backgrounds?

Ë What have you done on the job that might exhibit one or more of the fourdesired dimensions? Did you lead a team, identify a problem and find acreative solution, deal with a problematic coworker, and achieve a goalthat no one thought was possible?

Ë What about your undergraduate academic experience might stand out?Did you study abroad or develop your own independent study? Did youdedicate yourself to one academic field, or did you pursue multipleinterests? What awards did you receive?

Start by being fairly generous with yourself Put everything that comes to mind inthe grid You can pare down the overlaps and the weaker examples later on Also, youmay have participated in some activities that don’t fit neatly into any of the above cat-egories As long as they help bring out one of the four main dimensions that you want

to demonstrate, include them You can create a catch-all “other” category if needed

Start with an empty grid

Activities/Achievements

Characteristics

Community Service GMAT Score Hobbies and Extracurricular Activities

International/Cultural Exposure Professional Experience Transcript(s)

Leadership Innovation Teamwork Maturity

When you are done, your grid may look like an expanded version of this:

Note that you will likely have more Xs in some categories than in others That’sperfectly fine The idea is not to have a completely full grid, but rather to use the grid as

a tool for visualizing what your strengths and weaknesses are Hopefully, your activitiesand achievements will complement each other and help fill in each column of the table

to some degree, but don’t worry if this doesn’t happen when you first fill it out.Also note that some activities may only demonstrate one dimension while othersmay demonstrate three or four of them That doesn’t mean that the former is lessvaluable than the latter Keep in mind that the most important thing is to adequatelydemonstrate all four desired dimensions An activity that provides your only strongexample of leadership may end up being the most important piece of your applicationstory, rather than one of many activities that show that you demonstrated all four di-mensions moderately well

After you are confident that you have covered everything in your background that

is relevant to your application, start to trim the list if needed If you have 10 examplesthat demonstrate teamwork, try to evaluate them through an admissions officer’s eyesand rank them from most important to least important The question you should askyourself in order to rank them should be, “How effectively does this achievement oractivity demonstrate what I am trying to show?” It’s tempting to include “glamorous”examples over more common ones, but being one small part of a CEO’s task force oncost-cutting may do less to show off your traits than having led a lower-profile teamwithin your own department

Led a team in implementing a new technology

Led internal training for new hires Difficult course load in quantitative areas

Graduated with honors

X X

X

X X X

X X X

X X X X

Also look for activities and achievements that overlap If you have done four thingsthat all demonstrate leadership and maturity, you won’t need to mention all four ofthem in your application Just one or two will do.

What to Do About Your Weaknesses

In the event that you look at one row or column of your grid and see a lot of whitespace, don’t panic! Most applicants will encounter this challenge Remember that thetable isn’t the end, but rather it is the means for identifying what you might need towork on while you build your application

Following are some areas where applicants typically have some holes in their grids,and some ideas for bolstering your position in each

Community service

Not everyone has done a lot of community service, and it can be tempting to want

to volunteer for five nonprofit organizations in the weeks leading up to your tion deadline Admissions committees can see right through this, however, so don’twaste your time in a last-ditch attempt to look “involved.”

applica-If you simply do not have any community service activities to point to, look forother activities in your background that will demonstrate similar characteristics Start-ing a volleyball club at the local gym won’t solve world hunger, but it still shows that youlike to get involved and can motivate others to do the same If you find that your appli-cation is still lacking the altruistic angle that a community service activity might demon-strate, then make sure to bring out your human side in other ways, such as more subtleexamples of how you helped a family member or someone on the job solve a problem.The bottom line is that you want to show that you like to get involved in the communityaround you, and that you are more than a GMAT score and fancy resume

If you still have time before you begin the application process, be on the lookoutfor community service opportunities Mentoring programs such as Big Brothers BigSisters are great ways to show your willingness to give back to the community

appli-If your quantitative score is low, highlight any tough analytical courses that youtook as an undergrad Or show how you use your quantitative skills to unravel toughproblems on the job, or even as part of a volunteer opportunity in which you partici-pated Remember that demonstrating an analytical skill set doesn’t have to mean showingthat you know calculus There are practical, everyday activities that can help you dem-onstrate your comfort with using numbers to make decisions The bottom line is that

you just need to show that you won’t be helpless two weeks into your first-year financecourse.

If your verbal score is low, then you will need to work extra hard to highlight yourcommunication skills You can do this through your essays and your interviews.You can also enlist support from your recommenders, to address weaknesses inboth the quantitative and/or verbal section If your undergraduate transcript and yourjob don’t help, consider enrolling in a statistics, finance, public speaking, or accountingcourse in a local community college This shows a dedication to education and willimpress the admissions committees Many business schools are happy to suggest whatkinds of courses they would consider as useful preparation for their programs

Hobbies and extracurricular activities

This is usually the part of the application that gives applicants the least amount oftrouble, as most of us have enough interests to keep us busy outside of school or work.Look at how your hobbies relate to your other activities, and they hopefully will pro-vide a well-rounded picture of you as a person If you already have the four desireddimensions covered reasonably well by your other activities and achievements, thenuse your hobbies as a way to provide a little extra depth and color to your application

If your hobbies don’t add anything new, then de-emphasize them and let the otherparts of your application stand on their own

International and cultural exposure

For many people, this is a clear-cut have-or-don’t-have issue If you haven’t worked,studied, or traveled abroad, don’t despair Business schools like to see experience inthis area, but realize that not everyone has had a chance to see the world If this is thecase for you, be sure to emphasize the success that you have had in working with people

of various backgrounds or even different points of view from your own Even two peoplefrom the same school who work for the same company have a lot of differences be-tween them Show how you have overcome these differences to build success, and,even more importantly, demonstrate that you value these opportunities to grow andpush yourself outside of your normal comfort zone

Professional experience

People who worry about their professional experience are usually concerned witheither the quality or quantity of the work that they have done If you are worried aboutthe amount of work experience that you have, take comfort in the fact that many busi-ness schools are reversing a decade-old trend and are actually pursuing younger appli-cants They will still be interested in you as long as you have demonstrated success onthe job, increased responsibility in your assignments, and a true understanding of what

an MBA can do for you If you are still an undergrad and are looking to go right intobusiness school, your best chances of demonstrating leadership and maturity will be inyour extracurricular activities and anything else where you took charge and made some-thing happen outside of the classroom

Quality issues around work experience can be tough, but can also be overcome.Have you stagnated in your job? Think about why this has happened and how an MBAwill help you address the issue Maybe you have hit a plateau in your career becauseyou lack important managerial skills that an MBA will give you The important thing inthis case is to demonstrate that your lack of upward mobility does not correspond to alack of ambition or aptitude for success.

Does your work not seem interesting or exciting enough? Don’t worry too muchabout this issue, as business schools love people from a variety of backgrounds Being aforeman at a corrugated box factory may seem dull to you, but if you can highlight whatyou have learned about business on the job—and what you still have to learn—thenyou can make a strong case for yourself

Some applicants have holes in their work records, as they took sabbaticals to travel,

to care for a sick loved one, or to simply try new things As long as you can convince theadmissions committee that you are indeed ambitious and committed to studying business,they will appreciate the unique perspectives that these experiences will give you

Undergraduate and graduate transcripts

If your transcript shows weakness, don’t worry Not all “weak” transcripts are equallybad, and there are some things you can do to help yourself

A Stanford admissions officer once said about transcripts, “We’re forgiving of slowstarts, but not as forgiving of slow finishes.” Most business schools have the same attitude Ifyou got off to a rough start your freshman year but showed steady improvement while

in college, then you are probably in good shape Admissions officers like to see that yougot more serious about your work and were able to turn the academic tide

If you were consistently poor or did worse as time went on, however, your lenge will be to convince the admissions committee that you’re serious about academ-ics and have the brainpower to succeed in school The former can be accomplished inyour essays, where you will discuss what it is that you expect to get out of a businessschool curriculum The latter can be made up for by the GMAT or, if that is also weak,

chal-by earning As in part-time courses at a local school

Your transcript(s) may also be weak because you were simply too involved in curricular activities as an undergrad Use this opportunity to turn a weakness into astrength by demonstrating your commitment and initiative at your undergraduate school,and making the case for why you will be equally involved in business school You mustbalance that out, however, with a demonstrated understanding of the importance ofacademics in business school In other words, you should try and convince the admis-sions counselors that you will get the school/activities mix right this time around

extra-Final Word on Strengths and Weaknesses

In general, your strategy should be to counteract your perceived weaknesses withexamples that show your strengths in those same (or similar) areas The more that eachpart of your application can naturally complement and support the other pieces, thebetter off you will be Some applicants will use the extra essay—which many schools

provide as an option in their applications—to directly address a weakness such as a lowGMAT score or undergraduate GPA This is fine, but think of it as a last resort Onerisk of devoting an entire essay to a weakness is that it highlights the very issue thatyou’re trying to neutralize There are times when the extra essay does help, however,and we will discuss these types of situations more in Chapter 4.

Conversation With Alex Brown

Alex Brown, Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions at The Wharton School,has become one of the best-known personalities among business school applicants overthe last several years He has developed a reputation for being quick to respond toapplicants’ questions with candid advice through BusinessWeek’s online b-school fo-rums and through Wharton’s own applicant-focused message board, known as student-2-student We checked in with Alex to get his opinion on some of the best and worstthings that business school applicants typically do

What are some of the major mistakes that you see applicants make year after year?

Good applicants not presenting good applications While that is a very general answer,

it gets to the core of the issue Specifically, I think one major error is not researching theschool and understanding what the particular school offers, and how it fits the goals of thecandidate It’s fine for us to learn that you are a strong candidate in general, but we are alsolooking for those who show good fit and who can make the most of our resources andlearning culture Those that have not done their homework on the school are sending anegative signal This does not imply that there is only one right school for each candidate.There should be a “choice set” that is relevant to the candidate’s goals, learning style, etc

What do you look for in trying to distinguish between applicants with very similar professional backgrounds?

A deep understanding of how the MBA is relevant and the potential outcomes ofthe MBA, aside from the notion that it needs to be done to get ahead in that particularindustry We also look for how the candidate’s overall profile, which includes interestsoutside of work, will add to the learning community of the school Oftentimes, it isthese interests and passions, and how they manifest themselves, that will be the keydifferentiator of someone with strong academics, a strong career, and a solid plan go-ing forward

What is your take on the GMAT exam, its importance and use by an admissions committee? What do applicants need to do to get in with a relatively low GMAT score?

It’s all relative Like all aspects of the application, it is important (By the way, theweakest element of any application will be the most critical for each applicant, and forsome that will be the GMAT.) The recent increases in GMAT scores at schools shouldnot lead candidates to believe we focus more on the GMAT than we used to do Thereasons for the increases are simply that there are more resources available for people

to prepare for the test, and the fact that the test is more flexible in terms of when it can

be taken (this is not universal, which we understand) Given the increased ability to befully prepared when taking the test, candidates are doing so I would say that what weare seeing is candidates maximizing their potential GMAT score, and I do not thinkthat was always the case

The GMAT scores we publish are averages, so clearly we admit people with scoresbelow that number The score itself will be reviewed within the context of an applicant’sacademic work, and our goal is to admit people who will thrive in our academic cur-riculum That will then allow students to be more involved in the overall program Inorder for us to “look past” low GMAT scores, the scores must be due to demonstratedpoor standardized test-taking, supported by strong academics, not due to lack of prepa-ration for the test, which is a clear demonstration of lack of commitment to the applica-tion process and respect for the applicant pool

We hear admissions committee members talk about looking for fit when evaluating applicants What exactly does that mean? What helps you determine if someone will fit in at Wharton?

Fit can follow a couple of themes: fit for the learning culture and fit for the school’sresources Each school will have a certain learning culture that determines the spirit,attitude, and future direction of the school We need to make sure we admit peoplethat will fit into the culture that Wharton has developed If we admit people who wouldnot excel in that culture, the culture itself would change over time

Fit also refers to how the student fits into the resources of the school (academic andextracurricular) and the goals of the student Clearly, if the goals of the student goinginto the program are unrealistic given the school’s resources, there is a disconnection

Some candidates seem to place more importance on one aspect of the application over another Is there one part of the application that you consistently see appli- cants falling short on?

I think this may vary based on the culture of the applicant Some international tures are less assertive in terms of expressing their qualities, passions, and interests, andsimply approach the process as they would approach writing their resume While weunderstand this, a candidate knows if he is applying to a U.S.–based school, so the candi-date should learn how to approach U.S schools more appropriately perhaps Ratherthan simply listing accomplishments and experiences in essays, an applicant should dis-cuss the outcomes and the learning opportunities, plus how these experiences have helpedshape value systems, leadership perspectives, and team skills, for example

cul-What makes a really good essay? cul-What makes a really bad one?

I want to get a sense that I really know the person after reading the essays Don’tjust write what you think we want to hear, but tell it the way it is, centered on knowingsome of the core themes we are looking for and of course answering the questions Arecent discussion on student-2-student referred to a candidate getting naked through

the essays While this may sound extreme, the attitude and approach makes sense Weare about transparency in our process and communications We want our candidates to

be similarly transparent

How important is an applicant’s enthusiasm for the program? Can you tell when an applicant is simply applying to Wharton along with every other top school, without really getting to know Wharton’s program?

We know candidates apply to multiple schools, and there is nothing wrong withthat Our attitude is less, “Are we your first choice?” and more, “Are we a good choice?”Make that case and we are happy How does Wharton fit your goals, given our re-sources, our culture, etc.? We hope that our marketing resources can help you under-stand exactly what our culture and resources are, and that you can make an effectivecase Help us picture you sitting in a classroom at Wharton, or running a club here

Any other pearls of wisdom?

I am passionate about what an MBA at Wharton can do for many different types ofpeople Don’t be intimated by the process of applying Use it as a chance to really findwhat is right for you While our stats may be intimidating to some, they are only stats

We look at much, much more

impor-What if I have been laid off from my job?

First of all, don’t panic! Getting laid off does not squash your chances of getting into

a top business school There are several things that you need to do Most importantly,you need to convince the admissions committee that you’re not simply applying to busi-ness school because you’re out of work and have no better option If admissions

officers sense that this is the case, then you will indeed have squashed your chances.You can combat this perception by highlighting your career goals, and how businessschool fits into the picture Also, while you absolutely should not dwell on the fact thatyou were laid off, acknowledge that it happened and be prepared to explain why (hope-fully it’s something out of your control), and move on Admissions officers understandthat even good employees sometimes lose their jobs.

Also, you will need to work extra hard to weave professional success stories out your application, to make it clear that you are a “winner” who just happened to getcaught up in bad circumstances Recommendations are especially important here, par-ticularly if they come from your ex-boss who regrettably had to let you go Showing thatyou were a positive contributor and that you left on good terms will help a great deal.Finally, show that you’ve been productive in your time off A Tuck admissions officeronce commented that she couldn’t believe how some laid-off applicants were content

through-to do nothing for a year Even things outside of your career such as pro-bono work orvolunteering can show that you’re not someone who’s content to sit back and take itwhen life deals you a bad hand

3 Applicant Profiles

Ë 32 K

What you communicate in your application will be largely dictated by who you areand where you want to go in your career However, where you’ve been speaks volumesabout you, particularly in the eyes of business school admissions officers If you are aninvestment banker, for example, they will assume that you have more in common withother banking applicants than with military or nonprofit applicants This means thatabsent information that you tell admissions committees about yourself, they may as-sume that you have many of the traits (both positive and negative) that a typical bankerhas It is your responsibility to be aware of these commonly held stereotypes and beready to take advantage of them or overcome them, whatever the case may be.While business schools rarely say so explicitly, it makes sense that your stiffest com-petition will come from those who are most like you Schools don’t necessarily operateoff of hard quotas when admitting applicants with various professional backgrounds,but they can only take so many consultants, or so many accountants, marketers, educa-tors, etc., before their classes start to become homogenous So, you will be compared

to other applicants with similar backgrounds, and your job will be to stand apart fromthese other applicants This is a core part of any winning application game plan.This chapter will help you achieve this goal We will examine 11 of the most com-mon applicant profiles (by profiles we mean professional backgrounds), name someperceived strengths and weaknesses for each, and discuss ways that an applicant with agiven profile can set himself apart from others with the same background Naturally,much of the advice that applies to one applicant profile may apply to another Also,there’s a good chance that you don’t fit explicitly into one of these profiles For ex-ample, many engineers go into consulting or investment banking Still, getting a sense

of how admissions counselors think about various profiles will help you in creating yourdifferentiated position We recommend using this chapter in conjunction with yourstrengths/weaknesses analysis from Chapter 2 to develop your application strategy.Above all else, your application needs to reflect who you are Beyond that, use thematerial presented here to separate yourself from the pack

In many ways, consultants are made for business school As a consultant, you mostlikely have a strong academic background, have had multiple experiences with myriadcompanies, and have finely tuned analytical and interpersonal skills Additionally, youhave direct access to a cadre of b-school graduates through your firm, who serve asgreat advisors

Unfortunately, more applicants fall into the consultant category than probably anyother profile type As a result, it is also probably more difficult to differentiate yourself

as a consultant Consulting firms often have standardized analyst programs that “feed”business schools with applicants after they’ve had two or three years of experience.Over time, many b-schools have become somewhat wary of these programs, because oftheir tendency to produce applicants who are simply looking to “get their ticketpunched.”

You can avoid the perception that you’re just trying to get your ticket punched bybeing explicit about how you intend to utilize an MBA to reach your career goals That’snot to say that you shouldn’t express an interest in returning to consulting But if you

do go down that path, you need to make sure to discuss how you see yourself having animpact on the organization Do you see an opportunity to increase your clients’ rev-enues through Customer Relationship Management? Then discuss how you want to capi-talize on this opportunity by studying the intersection of marketing and technology Thebottom line is that you have to provide tangible reasons for wanting to attend b-school

In many ways, if you intend to return to consulting, this is even more important than ifyou’re planning on switching careers

Along the lines of being explicit in your writing, try your best not to introduce sultant jargon into your essays and interviews Consultants have a tendency to writeessays that are high-level and ambiguous Admissions counselors comment that con-sultants often fail to adequately explain their specific actions on projects and the re-sults of those actions To the extent that you can quantify both, you will stand out fromthe pack Take a close look at Chapter 4 for additional guidance on how to write andinterview effectively

con-The average number of years of work experience at top business schools approachesfive Consultants, however, tend to apply to schools after only two to four years ofexperience If you fall into this group, then you should expect to be questioned about itand should find ways to emphasize your maturity One way to do that is by discussingactivities in which you are involved outside of consulting Because of the long hoursassociated with their profession, many applicants from consulting are unable to talkabout anything that is unrelated to work To the extent that you are able to weaveactivities outside of the consulting world into your story, you will be able to differenti-ate yourself

If this header describes you, then you are what business schools and their studentslike to call a “poet.” Whether you were previously a teacher, psychologist, musician,writer, chef, artist, or anything else that falls into this category, you bring something tothe applicant pool that few others do The trick will be to appear different enough to

be interesting, but not so different that admissions officers will suspect that you can’thack it or fit in with your more business-minded peers

First of all, don’t let anyone tell you that you have no business applying The factthat you want an MBA makes you qualified to apply Whether or not you get in is up tothe admissions counselors, but what they decide will be greatly influenced by how well youcraft your application Your past is history, but how you present it is entirely up to you.When you describe your past experiences, don’t simply write or talk about whatyou did Go a level deeper and talk about why you have done these things Forinstance, a sculptor got into a top business school by describing the satisfaction he gotfrom turning his ideas into something of substance He then effectively tied it back tobusiness, describing how he wanted to acquire the tools to do the same thing for busi-ness ideas You don’t need to be this explicit in tying your background to business(especially if it will end up sounding forced), but try to think in this way as you developyour application game plan Admissions officers will value you for the unique perspec-tive that you can bring to the classroom, but it’s up to you to show that you can connectthe dots and apply your non-business experiences to business problems

Most schools look for leadership skills more than anything else, and odds are thatyou’ve had a chance to display these skills at some point in your life The more recent,the better, but don’t be afraid to bring up examples of how you uniquely made a differ-ence in a situation when you were younger Even if the story has nothing to do withbusiness, leadership examples are universal, and your application will be much stron-ger for it Your recommendations can be helpful here, especially if you can get peoplewith business backgrounds to vouch for your leadership skills and business potential

Of course, business schools also look for a minimum level of quantitative skills, andthis is one place where you won’t get the benefit of the doubt You absolutely mustproduce a GMAT score within range of your target schools’ averages Your best bet is

to practice early and practice often, and give yourself enough time to take the exammore than once if needed And plan on taking some pre-MBA courses in accountingand statistics before you apply Doing so will demonstrate a sincere interest in earning

an MBA, and answer questions in admissions officers’ minds about you possibly ing to school as a dilettante who has nothing better to do Taking these courses earlywill allow you to sell them in your application

apply-Entrepreneurship

Few applicants can say that they’ve built their own business, giving entrepreneurs aleg up in the business school admissions process If you are an entrepreneur, the keywill be to drive home the strengths that admissions officers typically associate with people

like you, while addressing the questions of why you want a degree now and how wellyou will fit into the business school culture Here we use the term “entrepreneur”broadly As such, our advice can apply to people who have set out to build organiza-tions in a variety of fields, from technology to hospitality to nonprofit.

By definition, entrepreneurs are people who like to strike out on their own andmake things happen It doesn’t take much imagination to see how you can spin a storyrich in leadership, creativity, and ambition, no matter what your venture was Whetheryou built a whole organization or simply started up a new department within an existingcompany, you should have a lot of material to draw upon When you discuss theseexperiences, be sure to not only talk about your accomplishments, but also about howyou achieved them Saying that you led your fledgling team to launch its first prototype

on time is impressive, but it’s more interesting to hear about how it happened Storiesabout how you found the right people to build your team, how you motivated them,and how you helped them overcome obstacles will all paint a great portrait of you as aleader

The most obvious challenge you will face is that you already set out to build abusiness, and only now are you applying to business school Admissions officers willundoubtedly ask, “If you thought you could make it on your own two years ago, howcome you now feel like you need to sit in a classroom and learn again?” Your reasonswill obviously depend on your own situation, but a stronger answer will emphasize yourdesire to learn and move toward new goals, while a weaker one will focus on yourdesire to get away from the start-up scene

The flipside of your perceived strengths is that an admissions committee may der if you have too much hubris for your own good The key is for you to communicateyour appreciation for rigorous business training and to spell out exactly what skills youwant to attain and why Admissions officers don’t like to see someone who’s too much

won-of a maverick You will need to demonstrate your penchant for teamwork, ideallythrough some of your past actions

So far we have skirted the issue of whether or not your past ventures have beensuccessful Of course, it will be much easier to sell yourself if you have a long trackrecord of success to point to, but you can also use failures to your advantage Thechallenge will be to make sure that your business school application doesn’t look like a

“last resort” now that your entrepreneurial efforts haven’t panned out By ing that you understand what went wrong and that you are now actively seeking learn-ing opportunities in order to shore up your skills before you make another go at it, youcan pull together a nice application story

emphasiz-Engineering and Science

Engineers (here we will use “engineers” to refer to anyone coming from a science

or engineering background) typically have strong quantitative skills, and that is onereason why you will find a good number of engineers at any top business school Com-ing from engineering, however, you will find that you need to sell your interpersonalskills, and prove that you understand the “big picture” when it comes to business

Few engineers ever fail to make the cut in business school admissions because oftheir quantitative abilities Even if you don’t have a superlative GMAT score, you should

be able to point to your undergraduate degree and recent work experience as evidence

of these skills Even better, you will hopefully be able to demonstrate strong solving skills by virtue of the work you’ve done Even if your past experiences seem ho-hum to you, an admissions officer will be interested to hear how you solved an importantproblem, and why you went about it in the way that you did A good example can be asmundane as improving the flow rate through a valve by 2 percent, or contributing to asmall enhancement in the efficacy of a new drug Being explicit about the significance

problem-of the problem—and which problem-of your skills helped you arrive at the solution—will go along way toward selling these abilities

Many business-minded engineers also enjoy the advantage of having a good overallstory for why they want to earn an MBA Whereas a consultant or an investment bankermay have to spend a lot of time proving that she isn’t just getting her ticket punched for ahigher salary, you can craft a strong story about how you’ve mastered one discipline, andnow you want to move on to achieve a broader view of how a business is run Admissionsofficers will appreciate any evidence that you can provide that shows you understand theimportance of the functions in a company outside of its R&D department

The stereotype that you will most likely have to overcome is in regard to your personal skills An admissions committee will look critically for evidence that you canreach goals that require you to work with others Any teamwork examples that you canprovide will help you a great deal here; particularly stories that demonstrate your abil-ity to understand others’ motivations and to deal with them constructively These “em-pathy” examples will go a long way toward showing your ability to grow into the role of

inter-a leinter-ader

You can also set yourself apart through extracurricular activities that demonstrateyour interests outside of the workplace They can show your desire to actively seek outopportunities to make the world around you better, rather than simply waiting for anengineering problem to be handed to you Examples of community service, volunteer-ing at your church, or simply pursuing a creative or athletic passion outside of the officewill help you distinguish yourself from the other engineers in the crowd

Government

One of the better known business school graduates of the last decade—PeterRobinson, author of Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA—was a White Housespeech writer before entering Stanford In his book, Robinson describes being toldthat he and his non-business-background classmates were the ones who were added tothe class to add some variety It’s to your advantage that you bring this variety to thetable, and it can help you a great deal if you are able to overcome what the top schoolsexpect your weaknesses to be

Whether you frequently dined on Air Force One or served as your town’s catcher, you can build your application story knowing that most other applicants willhave far less unique stories to tell You can start by emphasizing your strong principles

dog-and passion for making a difference Business schools love people who are committed tomaking an impact wherever they go, and they know that people who have worked in gov-ernment tend to exhibit this trait No matter what specific field you worked in, or at whatlevel, make sure that this passion and dedication are a central part of your application story.You may also have excellent examples that demonstrate your interpersonal skillsand communication abilities To some degree, both will come through on their own inyour essays and your interview, but be sure to explicitly sell these abilities at some point.Any examples of past successes where you put these skills to use will only help in win-ning over admissions officers.

One of the most common weaknesses of applicants coming from the public sector

is a lack of quantitative skills Government-types have a reputation for being great withwords but less so with numbers, and you will need to overcome this stereotype withsupporting evidence If your past jobs included any kind of work with numbers, such asfundraisers, budgeting, or research, then be sure to mention it You should also show aminimum level of comfort with quantitative problem-solving through the other com-mon tools (GMAT, undergraduate coursework, and/or pre-MBA courses) Similarly,you will need to answer questions about your business experience, or lack thereof.Admissions officers are often willing to accept a lack of business experience as long asyou can communicate an understanding of the value of business training and how it willhelp you By communicating both messages, you will be able to help set yourself apartfrom other government employees Additionally, you should convey a clear vision forhow an MBA will help you and why

Also, emphasize your desire to innovate and make things happen Many ment applicants will have impressive stories to share about their past experiences, butthe most successful ones will present a convincing argument for how an MBA will helpthem shake up the status quo

govern-International

Clearly the international applicant (that is, international from the perspective ofthe 27 U.S schools covered in this book) profile will overlap with at least one otherprofile Still, it is invaluable for international applicants to understand how they areviewed by admissions counselors, based on their geographical status alone

It should be stated up front that business schools are eager to maintain, or, in somecases, increase the percentage of their international students B-schools and studentsfind that having a large international presence is the best way to expand students’ per-spectives beyond ethnocentrism It’s an amazing experience to sit in a classroom andhear voices from around the world weigh in on a variety of issues This alone ensuresthat business schools will continue to enthusiastically pursue international applicants forthe foreseeable future Still, there remains a gap in access to information on the businessschool application process in terms of domestic versus international applicants At a ho-listic level, our hope is that this book contributes to minimizing that gap At a moretactical level, however, it is important for international applicants to understand thestereotypical strengths and weaknesses with which they are automatically associated

On the strengths side of the equation, a guaranteed plus is your cultural awareness.Interestingly, this tends to be a latent strength for international applicants on whichthey don’t capitalize enough As an international applicant, you’re used to living in atruly global world and being exposed to various cultures, languages, and belief systems,

so you accept this as a norm and don’t emphasize these types of experiences as much asyou should Realize that the ability to speak several languages or dialects and expound

on the social impacts of introducing economic liberalization policies is something mostAmerican applicants do not bring to the table As such, demonstrate to the admissionscommittee your experiences in multicultural environments in order to show them howadding your voice to the classroom dialogue will appreciably improve the learning model.Additionally, consider integrating your global perspective into your career goals.Your past cross-cultural experiences will lend career goals that extend beyond U.S.boundaries, a level of credibility that most American applicants will not be able toachieve In terms of the ability to have a global impact, most international applicantshave a natural advantage

The lack of access to information on the application process reveals itself in a ity of applications from international candidates In general, international applicants tend

major-to produce applications that read more like records of accomplishments than smajor-tories.This hurts these applicants’ chances of getting into b-school The best way to put to-gether an application that positively resonates with admissions officers is by reviewingapplication components produced by successful applicants and by understanding theadmissions criteria of your target schools To avoid the trap of obsessing over baselineGMAT, Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and GPA statistics, you shouldlive and breathe Chapters 4 and 5 These chapters go through each of the applicationcomponents in great detail and outline strategies for gaining acceptance to top busi-ness schools Make sure that you review each of the examples in order to gain an un-derstanding of how admissions counselors will evaluate your application Having a goodunderstanding of how to assemble an application that tells a story, rather than an appli-cation that rattles off your achievements, is a great way to separate yourself from otherinternational applicants

One of the questions that admissions counselors will ask themselves when ing applications from international candidates is whether they will take the initiative toshare their perspectives with their classmates There is a common understanding that

review-as an international applicant you have a unique perspective, but in the admissionscommittee’s eyes that perspective is worthless if it isn’t shared The best way to addressthis question is to provide examples of instances in which you’ve provided your per-spective in a multicultural environment Better yet, emphasize your desire to expressyour viewpoints during your time in business school In addition to getting this pointacross in your essays, it is crucial that you emphasize it during your interviews This may

be your one point of direct contact with the admissions committee, so you definitelywant them to be comfortable with having you in the classroom

Investment Banking and Finance

Business schools love bankers for their business training and analytical skills, andbankers love the schools because they often have no choice but to apply after a fewyears on the job Your challenge will be to stand out from a sea of similar-lookingapplicants You can do this by defeating the stereotypes that are most often associatedwith bankers and others coming from finance-related fields, including private equityand venture capital

Let’s start with the good news As an investment banker, you will probably have to

do very little selling of your business abilities Schools will assume that you come with atleast enough analytical skills to hack it in an MBA program They will also expect thatyou are comfortable with big-picture business concepts and have enough polish to makeyourself presentable to potential employers While you should at least provide someevidence of these skills, know that b-schools will generally anticipate that you havethese characteristics

Of course, the hard part will be distinguishing yourself from the other gazillionbankers who also apply You should therefore focus your story Discuss not only whatmakes you a great banker, but on what makes you a different banker To this end, anyexperiences where you demonstrated leadership and truly made a difference in theoutcome of a project will help a great deal Admissions officers will look hard for ex-amples where you didn’t simply follow your job description, but rather went a stepfurther and did something that few others would have done in order to succeed Thiscan sometimes be difficult in this industry, but that’s exactly why business schools valuethese kinds of experiences so much

Extracurricular activities can be even more powerful in setting you apart from thepack Any way in which you can show a desire to get involved and make things happenwill distinguish you Again, schools are looking for examples where you didn’t merely

do what was asked of you, but rather stepped outside of your comfort zone and made adifference

One stereotype that you will need to overcome is the one that paints most ment bankers as overly competitive sharks You most likely have had experiences whereyou worked with others to execute a deal; don’t overlook the importance of these ex-periences when describing your professional history As much as an admissions com-mittee looks for a track record of success, it will pay even more attention to how youaccomplished those tasks An applicant who knifed and clawed his way to the top isn’tsomeone whom most schools will welcome with open arms

invest-Finally, you know—and every school knows—that many bankers apply to ness school because they have little choice That won’t be held against you But youwill really need to think about what you plan on doing with an MBA Whether or notyou plan on going back to banking, admissions officers will demand evidence thatshows you really understand the value of an MBA, and that you’re not simply out toget your ticket punched Be prepared to discuss your strengths and weaknesses, andhow an MBA will help you round out your personal traits and professional skills Tothat end, explaining how an MBA will help you make a true difference is a great way